The first couple of days of May brought our first illness since we’ve been in Uganda.  I had fever, chills, achy joints, throwing up and another symptom that I’ll just say will probably bring us a record water bill.  Since we are taking Lariam for malaria, I thought I had the flu.  Then we were told that one could get malaria even while taking the preventative medicine, so I started taking the three-day malaria treatment.  The next morning, I felt no better so we went to the international clinic where most muzungus go.  They ran various lab tests—blood, stool, urine and told me I had a bacterial infection, probably from something I ate.  This was a surprise diagnosis since we are very careful what we eat and how our food is prepared at home.  This doctor visit, including lab work and pharmacy meds, total cost was 25,000 shillings (about

The first week of April brought us rain, welcomed cooler weather and our third wedding in Gulu.  This couple is friends that help us with the Sunday afternoon Bible study at Abaana’s Hope (AH).  Dennis often leads the adults while Harriet leads the children’s Bible story.  I’ve shared with you that weddings here are long, but this one was a 12-hour time investment for me!  I started out at 9:00 a.m. going out to AH to bring six of the men who attend the Sunday worship to the wedding, went back home, picked up Sandra and Christine (she doesn’t miss a wedding) then went back to the church building.  Some of you may be wondering, “What about Lillian?”  She was a bridesmaid.  She and the other bridesmaid wore matching purple dresses with white trim.  Sandra helped Lillian get hers; and the material, seamstress and shoes total cost was $15. 

“March comes in like a lion and goes out like a lamb.”  Not in Gulu, Uganda!  March comes in hot and goes out hot here, typically.  March is the latter part of the dry season.  Since Gulu is so close to the equator and basically a tropical climate, there are only two seasons—wet season and dry season.  Over this last week of March, we have had some rain and cooler temperatures.  I never thought I would look forward to driving in the mud; but in this area, the cooler temperatures the rain brings are most welcomed.  We have a bedside clock in our room that shows the temperature in Fahrenheit.  For most of March, we were sleeping in a bedroom that was in the 90s.  We do not have air conditioning; but fortunately, we own fans!  We have a fan on a stand that sits at the foot of

Proverbs 17:17 says, “A friend loves at all times.”  A friend is valuable!  A friend is a blessing from God!  Sandra and I have had the pleasure of our friend, Dr. Melody Sherwood, staying with us this month.  Melody is completing her final year of a Cardiology Fellowship at University of Alabama-Birmingham this coming June—“Just four more months!”  As you might imagine, there are not a lot of board certified internal medicine physicians or cardiologists hanging out around Gulu.  However, that does not mean there are not some very fine doctors here.  We are friends with two—Dr. Owani Dennis and his wife, Dr. Rebecca.  Rebecca works in the HIV-AIDS department at the Gulu Regional (Acholi) Hospital and Dennis has a private medical clinic in Gulu.  This wonderful couple has helped us when medical teams have visited on several occasions.  Dennis also arranged to meet us at the Gulu Regional

Sandra and I made it back to Gulu with no problems whatsoever—all of our flights were on time and all of our luggage (and it was a lot) made it without loss or breakage of anything (I was particularly glad to see all of Sandra’s homemade jellies and jams were unbroken in their glass jars).  We arrived at the Entebbe Airport at 11:00 pm and after going through the VISA process, picking up eight big duffle bags and driving to the Airport Guest House, it was after 1:00 am when we went to bed.  Slept well and Lazurus, our driver, picked us (that’s the way they say it here, “picked us” instead of “picked us up”) at 8:30 am after a great breakfast of pineapple pancakes (yummy!).  It takes five to six hours to make the drive up to Gulu.  Sandra and I both decided to stay awake until

As I write this, we are over the Atlantic Ocean traveling back to Gulu, Uganda through Brussels.  I am one of the few still awake on this flight and am reflecting on the two months we have been home.  It has been a wonderful time with family and friends in Alabama.  We also went to Texas to visit family for Christmas and even got to spend a little time with friends in Bossier City, Louisiana on the return to Birmingham. It was a joyous time!  Somehow, after spending a couple of months away and then knowing that we will be going back for at least 10 more months puts a different perspective on time with them.  It truly makes that time even more valuable.

One of the highlights of our visit home was the wedding of our “adopted” daughter, Mandi, to an amazing young man named Bill Kottas.  Mandi is

It’s early Thursday morning and I just poured my first cup of coffee.  We have a Black and Decker coffee maker that is not real fast at brewing the pot and if you try to pour your cup too fast, you just make a mess on the kitchen counter.  It simply will not allow you to hurry!  Now, I often think that this simple act helps me prepare my mind for living out the day in Africa.  As a group, we Americans are not very patient.  We are a fast food nation!  There is not a single fast food restaurant in Gulu.  In fact, there is almost nothing that happens fast here.  Actually that has been the most difficult thing for me to adjust to.  Instant gratification is a problem with many of us Americans.  Of course, I’m not denying that there are good things about accomplishing things fast. 

On September 30^th, Sandra and I drove down to Lira, Uganda (about two hours drive) to visit Bob and Carol Higgins, the founders of Path Ministries, and tour their facilities.  This was our first “trip” in the Land Cruiser with me driving.  It was a little stressful for the driver and a lot stressful for the passenger, but we made it back alive.

Bob and Carol invited us to arrive by 8:30 and worship with them at the Ilera Community Church.  This church was started to provide a worship service for the first 78 orphans they started with at Otino Waa (our children) Children’s Village about ten years ago.  The surrounding community heard them singing and worshipping and asked if they could join them in worship. Eventually, they bought about two acres of land across the road and started the Ilera Community Church.  They had about 700 worshippers on the

We arrived in Gulu, Uganda at the end of August.  It’s now 3:00 a.m. here in Gulu on Thursday morning.  What a great time to give our family and friends an update!  We spent most of the first week of our time getting ready to move into our rental house.  We’ve bought two queen beds, a set of twin beds, four bedside tables, a dining room table with six chairs (all the furniture is being built by local tradesmen), a refrigerator, a stove/oven (yes, you can get just a cooktop here), a clothes washer and dryer (actually the dryer is a clothes line I helped put up), a water dispenser (big bottles, upside down on top) and scores of household items to set up living.  We’ve hired a guard/yard guy and a cook/housekeeper–she was on a two-weeks trial basis with Sandra (she should have thought of that when we